Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky
B´nei Israel Congregation
San José, Costa Rica
A Committed Jewish Education
This week we read two parashiot: Nitzavim and Va’yelech. The first one, Parashat Nitzavim, refers to a new covenant, agreed upon between God and the people of Israel before entering the land of Canaan. As in every pact, its subscribers are clearly stipulated at the very beginning. In the corresponding Torah text, however, something interesting appears: “Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; but with him that standeth here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day” (Deut. 29:13-14).
The question arising from this passage is, to whom is it referring by “him that is not here with us”? Rashi, quoting the Midrash, explains that this sentence refers to the future generations. That is, the covenant concerted by God in the wilderness was not just between Him and the people present at the time, but also with those people’s children, and the children of their children and all future generations, including us and our descendants.
At first sight, this seems a little bit odd. After all, we know that agreements are made between the signing parties, and no one else can be included unless such party explicitly expresses its consent. How could we include in a covenant people who have not yet been born? Do we have the right to do so? A lawyer could cynically claim: ¿is this pact even legal? If you allow me a small joke, the expression “devil’s advocate” would be perfect here.
I don’t know if the Midrash interpretation is correct, but I do believe it teaches us a very important principle of Jewish pedagogy. I am referring to the education of our children in general, and to Jewish education in particular, to which I will refer briefly next.
In my opinion, there are three basic options regarding the Jewish education of our children: the first one is to educate them entirely as Jews, sending them to a Jewish school, keeping a Jewish home, etc. This option is, in truth, the continuity of the covenant stated in this week’s parashah. From their very first years, we include our children in the covenant, in our people’s tradition.
The second option is the absolute opposite: to not offer children any kind of Jewish education. No Jewish school, no visits to the temple, no Jewish symbols, etc. At some point, the children will grow up and learn that they are Jews, but such knowledge will have no value for them, since it will be just a word empty of content; they will not have anything concrete to reflect their belonging to the Jewish people, nor any memory to support them. This option clearly means breaking the pact of the Torah, freely expressing the desire to not belong to the covenant.
There is a third option, an intermediate position, on which I wish to delve. We say that the first option is to say “I want my children to be part of the covenant”, while the second consists of saying, “I don’t want my children to be part of the covenant”. Well then, the intermediate option would be to say “I cannot decide for my children; they will choose in the future whether they want or not to be part of the covenant with the Jewish tradition”. In practice, this means to offer them some bit of Jewish education, rather mild, with no affirmations or obligations. They receive a confused message, with a little bit of Judaism and a little bit of other things.
They are taken to the synagogue and to the Jewish school once in a while, because it is important that they get to know them, but these places hold the same importance as any others; they are not an essential part of the family life.
Experience shows that the result of such an education is very similar to that of the second option. In a country where the number of Jews is just a small grain of sand, and where the only way to gain access to Jewish culture is through the synagogue, Hebrew school or other similar Jewish institution, the path that our children will choose is in truth virtually established.
I believe that the idea of the covenant with the future generations teaches us that we cannot trust the identity of our children to chance. Of course they will choose and decide, as the human beings they are. No education guarantees 100% effective results. But the Torah’s advice is that we should tilt the balance deliberately, not be impartial, and show our children that we are interested in their continuing to be members of the same people to which their parents belonged, transmitting to them how proud we feel with that.
Otherwise, they will choose without any preconception, what in a society such as ours means an almost sure ticket to complete assimilation.
The Midrash advice is that we must educate our children in Judaism, as we do in other aspects of life. For instance, parents usually want their children to be good people, and however open-minded they are, they show their children the good path. I have never heard a father saying to his child, “there are honest and immoral people; when you grow up, you will decide if you want to be upright or not”. Just as we educate children on what we believe is right and wrong, and we wish to transmit affection for the values we uphold, we should also educate them in the Jewish tradition, in the love for its values and culture, in the feeling of belonging.
The Torah refers this week to a pact with future generations, an alliance that can only be kept alive through education. Perhaps the most important lesson is that we must clearly understand that, no matter which of the three options we choose, we will always be tilting the balance one way or the other; there is no impartial education. Let us choose responsibly concerning the Jewish education of our children.
Shabat Shalom!
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